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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Birth of Polyphony

Composer of the Week: Birth of Polyphony: Episode 2: The School of Notre Dame

Episode 2

Episode 2: The School of Notre Dame

Birth of Polyphony

The School of Notre Dame

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Birth of Polyphony, The School of Notre Dame

Donald Macleod considers the place of Notre Dame in the story of polyphony.

Donald Macleod considers the place of Notre Dame and the composers Leonin and Perotin in the story of polyphony.

A new cathedral calls for a new type of music. Donald Macleod considers the place of Notre Dame and the composers Leonin and Perotin in the story of polyphony. 

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony was a gradual one. It is argued that polyphony was never entirely absent from European music-making; nor did monophony suddenly go out of fashion. Nevertheless, a fascinating development can be traced between the 12th and 14th centuries, with new musical forms, new rhythmic modes, and new methods of musical notation. 

In today's episode Donald discusses the earliest piece of true polyphony ever discovered, and the the story of Paris's ambitious new cathedral, Notre Dame. Contemporaneous with construction of this mighty edifice we find compositions for two, and subsequently three or four voices. Not only that, we also have names for two of these composers: Leoninus (Leonin) and Perotinus (Perotin). But the line between composition and improvisation is still as indistinct as the lighting in the new building. And it's likely that polyphony was for special occasions only - such as the riotous Feast of Fools. Polyphony seems to have been deployed as a kind of crowd control, to avoid the lewd excesses of this particular occasion!

Leonin: Gloria redemptori meo
Hilliard Ensemble

Anonymous: Sancti Bonifati (transcribed Giovanni Varelli)
Quintin Beer
John Clapham

Leonin: Iudea et Iherusalem 
Leonin: Descendit de celis
Red Byrd

Perotin: Viderunt omnes
Hilliard Ensemble

Perotin: Sederunt principes
Hilliard Ensemble 
 

Producer Geoff Ballinger.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod takes a look at the  transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony

The transition from pure monophony to complex polyphony is a gradual one. Donald Macleod takes a close look at the change

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Episode 2: The School of Notre Dame

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